Delegates Emphasize Need to Expand Council Membership, Especially in Africa, Use Veto with Caution
Speakers at the General Assembly today called for reforms to the Security Council's constitution, representation and veto use, urging a renewed commitment to the adopted Pact for the Future, which itself should serve as a springboard to achieve these aims.
"We meet at a time when calls for the reform of the Security Council are growing louder and more frequent," said Cherdchai Chaivaivid (Thailand), Assembly Vice-President, speaking for Philemon Yang (Cameroon), President of the 193-member organ. Recalling overwhelming support in this regard by Member States during the debate of the Assembly's seventy-ninth session in September, he noted that these discussions are being held at a time the Council "is deadlocked on situations and conflicts that stain our collective conscience".
He expressed regret at the organ's inability to maintain international peace and security amid raging conflicts worldwide, describing the General Assembly's interventions in pressing issues as untenable. Underscoring that the Pact for the Future offers a solid foundation for advancing Security Council reform, especially in making it more representative by addressing the historical injustice against Africa and improving representation of underrepresented and unrepresented regions and groups, he urged Member States to "follow through with ambition and determination".
"I call on all of you to come forward and propose models, for the reform will only be successful if it is inclusive and reflects the views of the entire membership," he said, urging Member States to work with creativity, flexibility and a spirit of consensus in that regard. "The world is watching us, looking to this Assembly for renewed faith in multilateralism," he said.
Also underscoring the need for Council reform, the representative of Bahrain, representing the Arab Group, regretted that, for more than a year, States have witnessed the organ's inability to end Israel's aggression against Gaza or prevent escalation against Lebanon. With over 400 million people across 22 countries, "the Arab Group merits having representation within the broader Security Council," she said, demanding representation with all the prerogatives of full membership.
For Italy's delegate, speaking for the Uniting for Consensus group, this reform cannot come "at any cost", he said, proposing "longer-term, re-electable seats, with a flexibility to accommodate the positions of other negotiating groups and the unique dynamics of each regional group". He opposed the "fundamentally undemocratic" creation of new permanent members and called for performance-based continued membership of the 15-member body.
Singapore's delegate lamented that 61 Member States - more than 50 of which are small States - have never served on the Council, which has not been reformed in 61 years. While his delegation supports expansion in both permanent and non-permanent membership, it does not support giving new permanent members the right of the veto. He urged current wielders of such a right to respect Article 27(3) of the UN Charter, "and refrain from voting on a dispute to which they are party". On that, Switzerland's delegate said that, because the Council's credibility suffers when the veto impedes action in response to atrocities and serious violations of international humanitarian law, her delegation "calls for voluntary restraint, so that no member casts a negative vote in such situations".
With regards to increased representation of the Security Council, some delegates urged attention to unrepresented and underrepresented regions, particularly Africa. Welcoming the Pact for the Future's "strong emphasis on accountability", Netherlands' delegate, also speaking for Belgium and Luxembourg, said an enlarged Council should reflect the African Group's aspirations and include developing countries and small- and medium-sized countries as well as small island developing States.
"Africa's exclusion from permanent membership on the Security Council is a legacy of the past that must be urgently rectified," declared the representative of Sierra Leone, who spoke for the African Group. He reiterated calls for two permanent Council seats, with all the rights and privileges of current members, including the right of veto if retained. Building on this, Egypt's representative called for two additional non-permanent seats, stressing that "this is not merely a question of proportional representation [but] a matter of fundamental equity and justice". Moreover, Africa must have an equal voice in decisions on international peace and security, especially those directly impacting the continent, he emphasized, urging timely reform for more equitable global governance.
For South Africa's speaker, "the question of the criteria for the selection of African members of the Security Council should be a matter for the African Union to determine, taking into consideration the representative nature and capacity of those chosen". Also drumming support for Africa's representation in the permanent category of the Council, Barbados' delegate defended "the urgent need to include the unrepresented and increase the participation of underrepresented regions, including my own region of Latin America and the Caribbean".
The five permanent members of the Security Council were united in their support for expanding Council membership, but presented contrasting views on the scope of such expansion. China's representative called for an "effective increase in the representation of developing countries" and joined calls for redressing the historical injustice suffered by Africa as a priority. The Russian Federation's delegate echoed that appeal and urged for enhanced representation of developing States in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Voicing opposition to "the initiative that would infringe on prerogatives of current members of the Council", he said: "The use or threat of the use of the veto has time and again freed the UN from being pulled into dubious undertakings."
The representative of France underlined support for Africa's demand for two permanent seats, as well as a greater number of elected seats. Council expansion in both categories of membership is a must, and his country would not be opposed to granting the veto to new permanent members, he added. The United States' speaker also voiced support for adding two permanent seats for Africa, as well as a rotating seat for small island developing States to ensure their consistent representation. The United Kingdom's delegate envisioned an expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership to a total in the mid-twenties. "We want to see permanent African representation, and permanent seats for Brazil, Germany, India and Japan," he added.
Calls for reform notwithstanding, delegates also expressed concern about the process thereto, with the representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, speaking for a group of countries, urged Member States to "utilize the entire calendar available to us" to convene as necessary to break deadlocks and advance the agenda. Underscoring the importance of a negotiating text, she said suggestions that agreements be reached before introducing a text are "both redundant and irrational", to which Mongolia's speaker added that negotiations based on a single, consolidated text are an essential process that must be Member State-driven. The momentum of such negotiations, according to Saudi Arabia's representative, should be sustained. Flexibility is also needed to bridge differences in pursuit of consensus, he added.
Noting that the eightieth anniversary next year of the Organization is not only "an opportunity to laud the achievements of multilateralism", but also "a moment for us to reflect on the present and future of multilateralism", Germany's representative, speaking also for Brazil, India and Japan, urged Member States to constructively participate in the forthcoming model discussions and cautioned against such discussions becoming "an exercise in perpetuity".
The current intergovernmental negotiations process is the only legitimate format for the discussion of Council reform, submitted Belarus's delegate. Negotiations must be based on the principle that "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed". "We do not accept the approaches according to [...] the so-called 'majority formula'," he emphasized. There must be a unity of positions and genuine solidarity among States; building a dialogue using mathematical calculations of those who support one initiative or another is out of place, he added. Moreover, an evolutionary incremental approach to negotiations is needed, without stipulating deadlines or imposing ideas which do not enjoy consensus or forcing text-based negotiations, which "would only hinder our search for compromise", he said.
The representative of the Interparliamentary Union (IPU) said that, while the world's geopolitics have changed dramatically since 1945, the Security Council has not evolved at the same pace and "repeated recourse to the veto has had dramatic consequences which cannot be ignored". She recalled the adoption, in March, of a motion by the Union's Standing Committee on United Nations Affairs, which calls on parliaments to ask for regular briefings of their respective ministers and Permanent Representatives on the reform process, demanding it is undertaken democratically, inclusively and transparently. She observed that "while it is you, the Governments of this world, who lead negotiations, parliaments need to do their part in pushing for change from the bottom up". The IPU will keep pressing for action on this motion, hoping to help build momentum for a final reform package with no further delays, she said.
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